# A Lightsheet Microscope for an Established Core Facility

> **NIH NIH S10** · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · 2021 · $600,000

## Abstract

A diverse group of 9 NIH-funded teams and investigators at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and
School of Nursing request funds to purchase a Carl Zeiss Lightsheet 7 fluorescence microscope. This new state-
of-the-art system will be situated in the UMB Core Confocal Facility, a well-established core facility that will
oversee use, training, and service for the microscope. Lightsheet fluorescence microscopy occupies a unique
but important niche for imaging intact organoids, organs, tissues, and organisms, both in fixed, cleared samples
or in live specimens and embryos. This imaging modality fills an important gap in the technical arsenal of the
university, which has excellent facilities for imaging at scales from electron microscopy to PET/CT and MRI but
lacks a microscope optimized for high-resolution, large-volume imaging. This has left a widening hole in our
ability to conduct relevant research in many of the areas of historic strength. With this in mind, the Core Facility
organized a series of instrument demos, and user labs have dedicated substantial effort to adopt and adapt
several tissue clearing methods suited to lightsheet imaging.
 After evaluation of 5 systems, the Major and Minor Users were unanimous in their selection of the
Lightsheet 7 (LS7) as the instrument which would best meet their collective needs. Institutional support for this
request is broad and deep, with the Dean’s Office, the Core and its host Department of Physiology, other user
departments, the UM Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center and including a substantial group of faculty
committing funds and numerous other forms of support to purchase and maintain this new LS7. The new
instrument will be incorporated into the long-standing and successful Confocal Core Facility at the University and
will thus benefit from stable and well-tested policies for training. The presence of extensive on-campus expertise
along with pledged support from experts at nearby institutions promises swift and efficient utilization of this new
technology. The expert Manager at the Core not only has several years of experience training users on a variety
of microscopes for live and fixed imaging but has even built an alternative lightsheet microscope (diSPIM). The
school has long-standing and continuing commitment to support the needs of the Core for space, personnel, and
administrative services. Funded by a major NCRR construction grant, the Core has undergone extensive
renovations to house our microscopes including the LS7, so the LS7 will be in an excellent facility located central
to the Major Users. The system meets the long-term goals of the School to build research resources, including
commitments to encourage use of the instrument and the tracking of its productivity. In sum, the availability of
this new technology in the School’s Confocal Core Facility would directly and strongly benefit the research of the
Major Users. More broadly, by incorporation to annual graduate cou...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10172216
- **Project number:** 1S10OD030221-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE
- **Principal Investigator:** Thomas A Blanpied
- **Activity code:** S10 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $600,000
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-05-01 → 2022-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10172216

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10172216, A Lightsheet Microscope for an Established Core Facility (1S10OD030221-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10172216. Licensed CC0.

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